What we’ve been reading: our editors’ picks

Cabinet reshuffle

David Cameron   Former prime minister makes shock comeback in high-risk reshuffle Cameron’s appointment as foreign secretary indicates a move to the centre by Rishi Sunak and is likely to anger the right of the party Sunak searches the gene puddle of Tory talent … and finds David Cameron John Crace

‘He still has his political mojo’   David Cameron comes back from his shed

Analysis   David Cameron is a big international figure but what will he do as UK foreign secretary?

Former PM comes with air of authority but resurrection of his political career is risky for Rishi Sunak

Suella Braverman   Rightwing Tories meet after former home secretary’s sacking Suella Braverman is sunk, and so are the Tories: a party of nihilists, led by a loser Polly Toynbee

Reshuffle   James Cleverly appointed home secretary in reshuffle

‘Back to the future’   How the papers covered the return of David Cameron

Sunak seeks to appease Tory right by giving Esther McVey ministerial role

‘It may help, it may not’   First he was the change PM. Then came the king’s speech. Now a spectacular reshuffle. Can Rishi’s endless resets ever work?

Is the Tory PM’s latest gamble, to bring back David Cameron as foreign secretary, a stroke of genius or the last desperate gamble of a drowning man?

‘Toxic’   Calls for investigation into complaints of sexual behaviour at MoD

Opposition and unions call on Grant Shapps to take action after 60 senior women report widespread abuse

Britain’s military has been rocked by a succession of abuse, harassment and sexism scandals in the past year, including in the Red Arrows display team and the navy’s submarine service. Nine rapes in a 13-month period have been reported at the army’s Harrogate training college and a 19-year-old soldier, Jaysley Beck, is believed to have killed herself after protracted sexual harassment from her boss. Labour and civil service unions have called on the defence secretary, Grant Shapps, to launch an urgent investigation after 60 senior female staff at the Ministry of Defence reported a widespread culture of sexual assault, harassment and abuse by male colleagues. The opposition party called on Shapps to take action to “root out this behaviour from top to bottom”, while the heads of the FDA and PCS trade unions called for a meeting with the department’s permanent secretary, David Williams.

Unsafe schools   700,0000 England pupils taught in buildings that need major refurbishment

Damning parliamentary inquiry reveals scandal affecting hundreds of thousands of children

Israel-Hamas war

‘In the circle of death’

Gaza   Israeli forces at gates of main hospital with hundreds trapped

Gaza doctors say patients are under siege in al-Shifa Staff say they fear rising numbers of deaths at hospital on third day without power, and with shooting and bombing outside IDF says it has found Hamas tunnel shaft at Shifa hospital ‘Unfair she had to resign’   Birmingham constituents back Jess Phillips over Gaza vote 19 November: Central and southern Gaza attacks kill 15, say Palestinians

To understand Israel-Palestine, first understand the history of racism and antisemitism Rachel Shabi

It’s true that the Palestine solidarity march did contain a fringe of hateful messages, but to portray these as characteristic of the whole is absurd. Protesters called for a halt to the death, catastrophe and terror being inflicted on Palestinians in Gaza. Demands for a ceasefire are accelerating globally, as about 11,000 people have been killed in the sealed Gaza Strip, including over 4,000 children – and with thousands more injured or orphaned. The Palestinian cause is close to the hearts of leftists, but polling shows it goes wider than that: most of the British public support a ceasefire.

Labour  
Jess Phillips quits frontbench as Keir Starmer suffers major rebellion over Gaza ceasefire

Exclusive   Starmer facing more frontbench resignations over Gaza policy

Labour leader is target of growing anger in party over how he has handled vote on Israel-Hamas war

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Biden-Xi talks   US president hails progress but Taiwan still the sticking point

Account of the summit from China’s foreign ministry was mixed, portraying Xi has having taken a tough line, telling Biden to stop arming Taiwan Joe Biden has claimed that his summit meeting with Xi Jinping has brought substantial progress, including agreements on limiting narcotics trafficking, restoring militaries lines of communication, and to start talking about the global risks posed by artificial intelligence. However, it was clear that after more than four hours of talks in a mansion outside San Francisco, the meeting had not brought the US and China any closer on the fate of Taiwan, which Xi reportedly told Biden was “the biggest, most potentially dangerous issue in US-China relations”.

Uk politics Mone admits involvement with ‘VIP lane’ PPE company Conservative peer Michelle Mone has acknowledged for the first time that she was involved with a company that was awarded government PPE contracts worth £200m during the Covid pandemic. The admission raises questions about years of denials from Mone and her husband Douglas Barrowman. Criminal justice At 17, I was jailed for a murder I didn’t commit Sam Hallam’s life descended into chaos when he was wrongfully jailed. Seven years after his conviction, basic police checks that were not conducted initially determined he was not at the scene of the crime. Simon Hattenstone spoke with him about that tumultuous time in his life and why he is still fighting for justice today. Travel ‘The best thing about the No 50 is that it goes on a boat’ Buses generally are not the most exciting mode of transportation: they can be slow, a bit gross and at times inconvenient. These Guardian readers disagree, and have shared their tips for some of the most picturesque and fun bus rides in the country (one even goes on a boat). Covid inquiry Westminster is rife with ‘entitlement syndrome’. During Covid it cost lives Former education secretary Justine Greening says that overconfidence led to terrible decisions during the pandemic. “I recognise it from my time in cabinet”. Climate crisis ‘A treasure beneath our feet’: How the Dutch went down the toilet looking for heat In Amsterdam, sewage waste is being explored as a reliable heat source for millions of homes that the government wants to be unhooked from the country’s gas system by 2050. Family I kept depression at bay by having time to myself. So how do I do that now I’m a father? Postpartum depression is too commonly associated only with mothers. In this moving piece, Miguel Macias writes on his experiences of navigating depression as a father.

What else? Video | Why are Republicans still supporting Donald Trump? Despite facing multiple criminal charges, Donald Trump remains the frontrunner in the 2024 Republican presidential primary. But in South Carolina, a traditionally conservative southern state, a split is opening up between Trump loyalists and more moderate Republicans fearful of what their party has become. Oliver Laughland and Tom Silverstone investigate. Watch now     Audio | Why are Britain’s new homes so rubbish? – Today in Focus When Louise Rickman moved into her newly built house, there were issues everywhere she looked: broken tiles, a crack in the roof, a garage door that wouldn’t close. Louise’s experience is far from unique, the Guardian’s architecture critic Oliver Wainwright explains why the UK’s newly built homes are so often plagued with faults. Listen now

Israel Four weeks on, horror lingers in Israel’s silent kibbutzim As Israel marked the one-month anniversary of the 7 October attacks, Bethan McKernan captured the ongoing trauma on a visit to some of the kibbutzim that were hit The long read A violent murder, a child on death row A fascinating long read by Alex Mar on the story of Paula Cooper, a 15-year-old girl who ended up on death row for murdering 77-year-old Ruth Pelke in Indiana, only for her victim’s grandson to join the campaign to save her life Features The mothers whose children are held hostage by Hamas Simon Hattenstone’s interview with three Israeli mothers whose children were abducted by Hamas conveys the terror, anxiety and panic of their situation. The portraits by David Levene are stunning Gaza ‘We can’t ignore these people’: huge surge in numbers fleeing Gaza City Peter Beaumont reported on the tens of thousands of people fleeing northern Gaza. The trickle of those fleeing on foot from Israel’s war against Hamas has become a torrent, with about 15,000 people attempting to make the perilous journey on Wednesday Regeneration The regeneration project that became a £100m luxury ghost town More than a decade ago, existing businesses were kicked out to turn a set of railway arches in east London into a £100m luxury fashion hub. Today Hackney Walk is a ghost town. Simon Usborne’s piece stands as a classic parable of the failures of gentrification Online shopping I bought six items from Temu – the app that’s sweeping the world Hailed as China’s answer to Amazon (but even cheaper), Temu is the most downloaded app in the UK and US. If you are thinking of giving it a try, Hilary Osborne has got you covered: she bought six items ranging from reusable straws to socks, with the pictures to prove it

What else? Audio | What will it take to free the hostages taken by Hamas? On 7 October, 240 people in Israel were kidnapped and taken into Gaza. A month on, only a handful hostages have been released. Bethan McKernan reports for Today in Focus Listen now     Video | My Blonde GF: a disturbing story of deepfake pornography Sexually explicit images appear on a porn site, with Helen’s face edited onto other women’s bodies. In this powerful short film, Helen shares the impact this had on her life Watch now

The long read   Nitrogen wars: the Dutch farmers’ revolt that turned a nation upside-down

Opinion

Babies are dying – and trotting out the same old excuses just won’t wash Sonia Sodha

David Cameron’s return could dazzle and irritate his Lords’ peers in equal measure Ed Vaizey

‘There is no alternative’ is the last resort of those defending morally wrong acts Kenan Malik